Day 6

Le Château de Chenonceau

Today we're off to see another glorious château of the Loire Valley: Château de Chenonceau. While Chambord is described as a masculine castle, Chenonceau is called "The Ladies' Château." It's just a short drive away from our hotel in Amboise, but Virginie still has time to tell us stories about the seven ladies of Chenonceau.

1. Katherine Briçonnet. Wife of the Comptroller-General of Finances to King Francis I, she designed the château's conversion from a fortified manor house to a renaissance castle in the 16th century.

2. Diane de Poitiers. Mistress of King Henry II (son of Francis I). The château was gifted to her by Henry. She gets the credit for the château's iconic bridge over the Cher River, to connect the castle and the hunting grounds.

Diane de Poitiers as Diane the Huntress
by Primaticcio 1556
One of many beautiful (and original) paintings in the château

3. Catherine de' Medici. Wife of Henry II, she kicked Diane out when he died. She covered the bridge to make a grand ballroom.

4. Louise de Lorraine. Wife of Henry III (son of Catherine and Henry). She was in the château when her husband was assassinated, and decorated her room to be suitable to mourn him until her own death.

5. Louise Dupin. Entertained Age of Enlightenment Philosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire. Probably saved the château from destruction during the French Revolution.

6. Marguerite Pelouze. Restored the château in the 19th century, pretty close to how it looks today.

7. Simonne Menier. A chocolate factory heiress that ran a hospital in the château during WWI.

We are free for more than two hours to explore the château. And it is magnificent. While Chambord is sparsely decorated and vast, Chenonceau is exquisitely decorated with fresh flowers, original artworks, and Flemish tapestries. I'll share some of my favorite rooms.

One of the first rooms I visit is the chapel. Legend says Louise Dupin saved this room from revolutionary looters by filling it with firewood so the looters would think it's just storage. Virginie doubts this story because you can see the stained glass of the chapel clearly as you enter the château, and Louise was friends with a lot of revolutionary thinkers. She may have saved the chapel in the 18th century, but in the 20th the stained glass was completely destroyed in WWII.

In the chapel I am surprised by carvings in the walls with English writing. They were left by Mary Queen of Scots's guards. She was married to Henry II and Catherine's oldest son Francis.

Francis was only 15 when he succeeded his father as king. He was technically old enough to rule, but his mother Catherine de' Medici was quite involved in governing France under his rule. Francis died early, and Catherine's next son was only 10 years old, so she was named as regent. She ruled France from her study in Chenonceau.

Catherine de' Medici's study

The château is very proud of its straight staircase. Besides being one of the first in France, a staircase that is not a spiral means that you weren't worried about defending yourself from marauders coming up the stairs.

Catherine de' Medici's gallery over the river might be the most beautiful room in the château, though it's really hard to pick a favorite!

translation: Here 2254 injured were healed during the war 1914-1918

In the gallery and the kitchen, we can really see that this château has been lived in. Generation after generation has stepped up to this window to look out on the River Cher (like me!)

kitchen

The gallery might be the most beautiful room, but Louise de Lorraine's bedroom is definitely the most powerful. All the other rooms in the château have a similar vibe to each other, but upon walking into this one, the mood completely changes. Surrounded by her black walls of mourning, I can seriously feel her presence. Wow.

Henry III

Henry III was stabbed to death and as he lay dying, he sent a letter to Louise telling her to wait for him at Chenonceau, so she did. Maybe the energy I feel in the room is her, still waiting.

This Visitor's Guide has been most helpful. It guided through each room of the castle during the visit, helped fill in memory gaps after I got home, and taught me how to spell the ladies' names!

Today:

Château de Chenonceau
Amboise walk
Château du Clos-Lucé

Even the approach to the castle is enchanting

Flowers in every room!

Original Flemish tapestries (this one is 16th century)!

"The ire of man [accomplishes] not the justice of God. 1543"

Diane de Poitiers's bedroom...

...with a portrait of Catherine de' Medici over the fireplace!

I smell a rivalry...

an H for Henry and two C's for Catherine...
or is it a pair of D's for Diane?

floor tiles in Diane's room

On the ceiling in Catherine's bedroom it's a little less vague about who's in charge

only the C's and the crown

The Bedroom of the 5 queens is in honor of Catherine de 'Medici's 2 daughters and 3 daughters-in-law, reminding us that the château is dedicated to women...

and Louis XIV

...but a few men have left their mark too

That's Francis I's salamander!

Beautiful, original paintings in every room. Here are a few of my favorites.

and a lovely painting of the château

Archimedes--Zurbaran

Infant Jesus and Saint John
--Rubens

Jesus preaching to Ferdinand and Isabella --Alonso Cano

Jardin et Potager

Today's Phrase du Jour is "Jardin et Potager." I already know that jardin means garden, but today I learn that potager is a vegetable garden. I believe in British English they call it a potage garden because they grow things there to put in their soup pots. Chenonceau has an excellent potager garden, and pretty flower gardens too.

Closest to the castle are two rivaling flower gardens, one for Catherine de' Medici and one for Diane de Poitiers. You can see them both from the upstairs balcony of the château.

Catherine de' Medici's garden

Diane de Poitier's garden

I visit Diane's garden first and then walk over to Catherine's. I get a couple of beautiful photos of the château from Diane's garden. Catherine's garden is a bit smaller than Diane's, but leading from it is a trail into the woods that I cannot resist.

I hadn't even realized how much I need this walk in the woods. It is so refreshing to clear my thoughts and have some time alone with the trees. From this point forward, I will make an effort to take more walks in my free time.

I set a timer during my walk in the woods so I will have enough time to explore the rest of the château's grounds. Next up is Catherine de' Medici's apothecary. Marjorie the Pharmacist can get nerdy amongst all the jars of herbs and potions.

And finally, a stroll through the vegetable garden and back to the bus, where Virginie is waiting with cookies. A sweet ending to the sweetest, most enchanting morning.

Mistress vs. Queen--the rivalry continues outside!

Diane de Poitier's Garden

Catherine de' Medici's garden

A free afternoon in Amboise

We board the bus to leave Chenonceau and return to Amboise, where we'll have the whole afternoon free to take a vacation from our vacation. But first, one more story from Virginie! Hold on to your hats, this one gets a bit gruesome.

As I had figured out after visiting her apothecary, Catherine de' Medici was into the mystical. She regularly consulted astrologers; Nostradamus was the most well-known. One notable prophecy relates to Catherine's husband, King Henry II.

"The young lion will overcome the older one,

On the field of combat in a single battle;

He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage,

Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death."

In reality, Henry II died in a jousting match with a lance through the eye. His neurosurgeon practiced on other people two or three times before he operated on the king to mend the wound, but the king did not survive.

Catherine went to another astrologer to predict the fate of her three sons. In turn, the face of each of her sons appeared in a mirror. Her first son Francis appeared, turned around once, then disappeared. The face of her second son Charles turned 13 times before it disappeared, and her third son Henry turned 15 times. And what came to pass? Francis reigned as King Francis II for only one year before he died. Charles IX reigned for 13 years, and Henry III reigned for 15, just as the astrologer predicted.

I'm already meeting my goal of taking more walks, and I begin my free afternoon with a walk, starting with the Île d'Or in the middle of the river. The island is very peaceful on this day, especially after it starts raining. I'm pretty wet, but already dry again before my walk ends. When I finish my circle around the island, I find myself back in town to follow the Amboise Walk described in the Rick Steves guidebook. Like our orientation walk last night, this is a pretty short walk, with just a few interesting sights.

Church of St Denis

Rue Nationale

Church of St Florentin

The walk ends at the Château d'Amboise, and from there "it's a 10-minute walk uphill at a steady pace" (my pace is less than steady) to Leonardo's house at Château du Clos-Lucé. The walk uphill passes some very intriguing troglodyte homes. These cave houses have prehistoric origins, and some have been renovated into livable homes. Even more are used for storage for things like cars, wine, and mushrooms.

A painting of Nostradamus outside Catherine's apothecary

The map of my walk is so adorable--I literally walked around the whole island!

Amboise was Leonardo da Vinci's home in France. Here's a sculpture on the Île d'Or, but we'll see a lot more of him later when we visit his house and park.

Walking around Île d'Or

Château d'Amboise

Troglodyte Homes

Château du Clos-Lucé

If the Louvre is the place in France to learn about Leonardo da Vinci the Painter, then the house and park at Clos-Lucé are the place to learn about Leonardo da Vinci the engineer.

The visit begins in the château, with rooms decorated as they were in Leonardo's time, with a few original pieces in cases.

Downstairs gets a bit more interesting, with re-creations of Leonardo's study and studio.

a cabinet of curiosities

Leonardo brought 3 paintings with him to France--these 2 and the Mona Lisa

And just like Elisabeth mentioned back at the Louvre, there's a lovely copy of Mona Lisa, so I can finally look her in the eyes.

I snap a photo of the hokey "ghost technology" and the entrance to the underground passageway. In Leonardo's days, the passageway led to the castle of Amboise. Francis I and Leonardo had a special relationship. Francis I would visit Leonardo every day and they say he called Leonardo father.

In my opinion, the most interesting part of the house is the last section with the models. In the 20th century, IBM created working models from Leonardo's sketches, and they're presented here with animations bringing the sketches to life. I find them really cool...until I go out to the park where there are life size executions of his designs! It is really awesome to see technology that is still recognizable in today's world. What a celebration of Leonardo, the definitive Renaissance Man.

I really enjoyed my time in the park and gardens. The weather had improved so much since my time on Île d'Or, so it was again a joy to just wander outside. It was a bit of a scavenger hunt to find all the inventions, as I followed the map down paths that circled around and intersected each other. I made discoveries and my mind was awake with creativity. I discovered new friends along the paths--a lot of my tour mates had also decided to visit Clos-Lucé. In all, an inspiring afternoon.

When I reach the end of my discoveries in the park, I return to the hotel to plan my next move. I read what the guidebook has to say about the Château d'Amboise, and decide that I've had enough châteaux for this trip. So I'm in for the night. I sup on the rest of yesterday's picnic food, journal, go through photos, some TV (Friends dubbed into French!), repack (swap clean clothes for dirty clothes in the space bag, pack an overnight bag for tomorrow's pilgrimage to Mont St Michel), work on Claude, and relax.